What are AEO and GEO? A plain-English guide for business owners

For twenty years, being found online meant one thing: ranking on the first page of Google. That still matters. But a growing share of customers now type a full question into ChatGPT or read the AI summary at the top of Google, and get an answer before they see a single link.

AEO and GEO are the names marketers use for making sure your business shows up in those answers. The terms sound technical. The ideas behind them are simple.

What is AEO?

AEO is the practice of writing content so a search engine or assistant can lift a clear answer straight from your page. The term has been around since the late 2010s, when Google started showing featured snippets and voice assistants began reading answers aloud. Today the biggest place for it is Google's AI Overviews, the summaries shown above the normal results.

A page built for AEO puts the answer first. Ask "How much does it cost to form an LLC in Texas?" and a well-built page says, in its opening line, what the state filing fee is and how long approval takes. The explanation comes after.

What is GEO?

GEO is the practice of making your business the one AI tools name when someone asks for a recommendation, a comparison or a shortlist. The term comes from a 2023 research paper, "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization", by researchers at Princeton University and other institutions. They found that some content changes, such as citing sources, adding statistics and including quotes, raised a source's visibility in AI answers by up to 40%. Stuffing pages with keywords didn't help.

Where AEO is about one page answering one question, GEO is about your whole presence. AI tools decide whom to recommend by looking at many sources: your website, reviews, directories, articles that mention you and forum discussions. The more of them describe you clearly and consistently, the more confidently an AI tool can name you.

How are SEO, AEO and GEO different?

They share the same foundation but aim at different results:

In practice, one good piece of content does all three. That's why we treat them as one job, not three separate services. If you're deciding where to start, see SEO vs AEO vs GEO: what do you need first?

What does AEO look like on a real page?

Pages that get quoted share a few habits:

• Answer first. The first one or two sentences under each heading answer the question completely.
• Headings are questions. "How long does setup take?" works better than "Our process".
• Specific facts. Prices, time frames, sizes and steps. AI tools quote numbers, not adjectives like "affordable".
• Lists and tables for steps and comparisons.
• An FAQ section with short, complete answers, plus FAQ schema so search engines can read it.

See a before-and-after rewrite of three real-world page types on our homepage.

What does GEO look like in practice?

GEO work happens on your site and off it:

• Consistent facts. Your name, location, services and prices match on your website, Google Business Profile and every directory.
• Mentions on other sites. Reviews, industry directories, "best of" lists, guest articles and local press give AI tools independent confirmation.
• Content that shows expertise. Detailed guides, comparisons and original data give AI tools something worth citing.
• A site AI can read. Your robots.txt shouldn't block AI search crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot or PerplexityBot, and key content shouldn't be hidden behind scripts or logins.

Do you need all three?

Yes, but not as three projects. Start in this order:

1. Fix the SEO basics. Make sure Google can find and index your important pages. Without this, nothing else works.
2. Answer your top customer questions directly. One clear page per important question. This drives both AEO and GEO.
3. Build mentions elsewhere. Reviews, profiles and articles on other sites. This is the slowest part, so start early.

Common myths about AEO and GEO

• "SEO is dead." It isn't. AI tools rely heavily on pages that rank well, and Google still sends most website traffic.
• "You need separate pages for AI." You don't. Pages written clearly for people are the ones AI tools quote.
• "An llms.txt file gets you into ChatGPT." There's no public evidence that major AI tools rely on it. It doesn't hurt, but it won't fix missing content.
• "You can pay to be recommended." The answers themselves can't be bought. Where AI tools show ads, they're labelled and kept separate from the answer.

Where to start this week

Spend 15 minutes finding out where you stand. Our guide How to check if ChatGPT recommends your business walks you through a free test with ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google and Gemini. Then pick the five questions your customers ask most and make sure one page on your site answers each of them in its first two sentences.

Frequently asked questions